No Cure For The Raharu Blues
by russetwolf13
Summary: Kale Suro has been turned into a monster by people he trusted. His home has been destroyed, and a war is on. Will a machine known as a mobile suit be able to help him get his revenge. Soon to be a webcomic on smack jeeves. Please R
1. Chapter 1: Riding High

No Cure For The Raharu Blues

There are all kinds of drugs these days. Not just stuff to get you high. There are drugs that make you happy, drugs that make you crazy, drugs that make you confident. There are drugs that make you attractive, and drugs that make you ugly, and even drugs that make you like different kinds of people. Stuff that can make you be ten times the person you are.

But there's always a price to pay, always a catch.

My name is Kale, and I'm about to learn the cost of Raharu. A drug that just may save my life, and end the lives of others.

Chapter 1: Ridin High

When I came into the station I just realized it was gonna be one of those days. So I popped a little blue gel capsule in my mouth and swallowed it while no one was looking. Not that it mattered, half the station was probably on something right at the moment. And chances were that I sold it to them. The chief knew, but he put up with it because his officers generally worked better high. After all, you would have to be a little lit just to do the paper work and not vomit from boredom.

The little blue pill took affect just as I hit my office door. A sense of ease swept over me like a cool blanket, as all those higher brain functions that get in the way of the bureaucracy shut down. This is teratrax, AKA: happy Robot. It's a relaxant they took off the market due to its narcotic effects. But this drug doesn't get you very high, and it doesn't make you very euphoric. It just turns you into a happy little automaton, ready for the days labor. These days most of the people who take this stuff are the intellectuals who are forced to work at burger king. Right now I'm taking this stuff because I have to do my report on a burglary that happened last week.

Yesterday we caught up to the guy. His concerned mother was hoping they could help her poor misguided boy, so she told us he was hiding in an old, condemned, apartment building. He was right where she had said, and he had a gun, just like she said. The idiot had fired a silver .357 at me and Jones, my partner. I managed to shoot the guy in the arm, which forced him to drop his gun. I managed a prize shot like that because, before we went in, I dosed myself with a drug called Shalala. That stuff wakes you up, and slows everything down, makes you alert, and precise. It was taken off the market because of the risk of heart attack. But I never take enough to be at risk.

But that wasn't the reason I had a lot of paperwork to do. See, when we first backpedaled out of the apartment, Jones found out why the place was condemned . He stepped on a weak spot and fell through the floor. That would have been bad enough, but then the second floor gave. He stopped at the ground floor. I pale to think what would have happened if that bozo had picked a room higher than the third floor.

I handcuffed the perp and called two ambulances, then went to check on Jones. He was okay, but he'd broken a few ribs and his ankle. They both went to the hospital, leaving me to file a report. Jones was gonna write his when he felt better, but for now I was on my own.

The paperwork was easy with the drug in my system. I didn't even think about anything. I just sat there and plugged away at it like a happy little idiot. But the drug wore off around noon, and everything was starting to seem slow and plodding. Lucky for me the work was done, and I had nothing on the books until the kids trial. Then lieutenant Lee, knocked on my door.

"Hey Kale, I got an assignment just for you", that sounded bad. The lieutenant sat down in my chair, since I had vacated it to open the door. The lieutenant wasn't a native australian, but neither was I. However, the pale mid sized man was from earth. One would not guess it from my build and rich skin color, but I lived the first 23 years of my life on a space colony, before moving to Sydney. "What kind of assignment?" I asked with my usual semi stoned zeal. "Oh trust me, it's right up your alley. What with you being the stations local dealer. And before you ask, yes this is a job for narcotics. But the governor himself, asked me to put this in my top priority box. He asked me to get every asset I had on this case", I was now wondering what was in the file folder the Lieutenant was holding.

He laid the file out on my relatively uncluttered desk. "What the hell is Raharu?" I asked with honest bafflement. I have heard of a lot of drugs, and a fair number of them have odd names. But none have rolled off the tongue the way Raharu does. "I was hoping you might have an idea. But since you don't know, I want you to find out", I'm about to tell him the obvious, that this is a job for narcotics, but he stops me, "Narcotics is already working on it. But the leads and connections they have are limited. You're in with all the good dealers, you've got the connections", the lieutenant is looking at me hopefully, like I'm the answer to his promotion prayers. I'm interested in what this new drug is, but there are problems with what he's asking me."Listen Lee, these guys like me because I don't mix business and pleasure. I can't go asking them to rat out one of their own so I can get a bonus". Lee leans in close,"listen Kale, just tell them it would be in their best interests to get this stuff off the streets".

I leaned back and asked,"why would it be in their best interests? Why should they do-", Lee slid a picture out of the file and into the light. I got a good look at the woman and wondered exactly what the hell could do that to a person. Her hair was strange, different textures, in different spots. There were also tufts of hair growing in places they shouldn't be growing. Her hands were warped, and puffy. Her eyes had glazed over, and the pupils were slits. I didn't want to look at her mangled teeth. It was like a new set was trying to grow out from under the old set. Everything about her was wrong, and before I could ask why, Lee told me. "The doctors are calling it Raharu syndrome. This woman had been taking Raharu for six days before she ODed. That's what happens if you take it for a while, then overdose. Apparently, according to the victims, that's why they have Raharu syndrome. Doctors haven't figured any of it out yet, this only started three days ago, when this woman came in."

I have never seen a drug do this before. "Three days? This has all happened in three days? What the hell is this stuff? What's it supposed to do, aside from turn people into monsters." Lee looked at me, smiling. He was smiling because he had me. He knew that now, I was going to take this seriously."That's what you're going to find out".


	2. Chapter 2: Roll Out

Chapter 2: Roll out

So, after Lee's little visit, I decide it's time to go visit my supplier. I'm not happy about doing a case like this alone. The real addicts have no morals. And I'll actually have to deal with real addicts for this case. My supplier, Dirk, is a stand up fellow who believes all business relationships are sacred. We're actually friends for the most part. And I'm a little hesitant to betray his trust like this. But I gotta do it. Bad drugs are bad drugs, everyone wants them off the street these days.

I step out of the station and head for the parking garage. My ancient black Lincoln Continental sits in it designated parking space. I fire up the old style combustion engine, converted to hydrogen to conform to emissions. The big car rumbles out of the garage. I converted a lot of features on this heap. Modern suspension, modern air conditioning, satellite radio, I even got a guy to juice up the engine in exchange for his pills. It rumbles down the street like a prowling lion.

Eventually I come to the apartment complex I know and love, Dirks place. I park in front and head in. Three flights of stairs later I reach his door. I knock and wait for the standard line. The door opens,"Kale! What in the devils balls are you doin ere. Come in you little bastard". Dirk's a native Aussie, though sometimes I wonder if it's and act. He's 6'2 and he towers over my 5'7. He never seems to be wearing a shirt, and thinks everyone wants to see how much hair he can grow on his chest and legs. I come in and throw my sport coat on the hat rack. My suit clashes with this place in a way I can't describe. It's says namaste on the front door for Christ's sake. You would think a yoga instructor lived here.

I sit down and Dirk passes me a joint."You ain't on duty are ya", I nod in disappointment, and hand it back."Too bad. So what's this about, I gave you your weeks supply last sunday." He sits in an ugly old lazy-boy across from me."Well, Dirk my boy, I need to know about this new drug they got on the market." I pull out a picture of the woman, and a man in similar condition,"a drug that does this to people". Dirk moves to take the pics."I wondered when you'd try this. Remember our agreement,'no mixing business with pleasure'. Now- Jaysis". Dirk gets a good look and looks at me. I respond to his look,"it's called Raharu. Lieutenant asked me to do this as a favor. Told me to tell you that getting this stuff off the streets would be beneficial to everybody. So, what do you know". Dirk puts the pictures down, his face is uncharacteristically solemn."You better be careful with this Kale. This is the kind of stuff that gets people killed, or worse. You don't want none of this." This is really uncharacteristic of Dirk,"what don't I want . What is this stuff? And how do I get ahold of the people who make it."

Dirk set up a meeting, tomorrow. So I head home to get high, and get some sleep. But of course, when I get home I decide against getting high. I turn on my computer and check my e-mail. I got a letter from Shiro. Shiro is my childhood friend from Side 2. We keep up the letters, even though I moved to earth and he didn't. According to his letter, things are heating up with the on Side three. Shiro even thinks there might be a war.

I write back the usual. That there hasn't been a real war in years, why start one now. And, not for the last time, I ask him to come down to Sydney for a visit. My old buddy needs to get some fresh air. Hell, I grew up up there and I still need that sometimes. I send the message and head to bed. I sleep well, but I have an odd dream. Something about running. And a big explosion. Then I woke up.

My car rumbles down the dirt road. I'm meeting them out in the middle of nowhere, and right now I'm trusting Dirk as much as I can. I come over a slight rise and see them. An old, rusted, powder blue land rover, circa 04, sits on the side of the road. I pull up next to them and get out. A woman steps out of the land rover, along with three skinny men similar to myself. Not at all what I was expecting in the way of bodyguards. "Hey, how's it going. I'm here to see if I can procure some of your supply", I say. "Depends, you've got the money or you wouldn't be here." The three guys check me for guns, and take them. "I expect those back when we're done", I say with a hint of sarcasm.

We talk business for a minute or so. But as soon as I ask what it does, she decided she needs to show me the facility. So we ride another 50 miles away from Sydney. A damn long commute for anyone delivering shipments, I note. Now, about a 100 miles away from my town, I see an old mining complex in the side of a hill. The place looks abandoned, and I wonder if they plan to kill me. But my gut tells me I'm fine, so I continue. When we get there, the woman, who has identified herself as Chris, leads me inside.

The facility is big, but the operation is small. Barely taking up a quarter of the floor space. I barely glance at the production line when Chris leads me into her office. I'm about to ask why I can't see it being made when she hands me a long red gel capsule full of red liquid."Here, take this", she stares at me like I should just do it without thinking."What is it", I ask. "You wanted to know what it did. What better way than to take some. That capsule right there is the product, Raharu. So take it", she says quickly."Excuse me, but I don't take anything unless I know what it does before-" she cuts me off."Take it cop, or we walk. And in this case 'walk', mean blow your head off and feed you to the pigs". In light of this new development, I throw back the pill and swallow.

I wait for a moment, wondering why I didn't just hide it in the back of my mouth. But hey, my question was being answered in a way I would understand. It's one thing to have a drugs effects described to you, it's... painful. The drug starts to take hold and I feel a pain in my gut. I wonder what kind of high this is. I clutch my skull as it erupts into agony. Everything starts hurting immediately. I fall to my knees and hear my bones break. "You're lucky, you got the full dose. It hurts more than normal, but it's so much more fun". I want to curse the bitch but all I get out is a strange noise that sounds like a snarl. My entire body start sprouting fur, but I don't know that until I see my hands turn dark brown, like my hair.

My hands get black calluses on the bottom, like a dogs feet. My finger nails are black claws when I look again. I try to stand, and manage it for a few seconds before I lose balance and throw myself onto a nearby couch. My gut thins, and my face deforms outward. I tear at my dress shoes with my clumsy paws. The woman helps me get them off. My face pushes out into a sizable snout. My ears feel funny. My body deforms to a degree that it's no longer human. I wrestle out of my suit, tearing it in the process. By the time the pain subsides I realize, I'm on all fours, I'm covered in smooth brown fur, and I'm a huge wolf. Raharu turns people into werewolves. 'Damn you to hell Lee', I think, and not for the last time.


	3. Chapter 3: The New High

Chapter 3: The New High

I was seriously considering killing Chris as slowly as possible, but she guessed that. "It'll wear off in a a while. More than a couple of hours, but I think you'll want more time when it's done". I wanted to respond to that, but my vocal cords didn't work right. Actually, as I looked at my paws, I think I wouldn't have said anything if I could have. I was already enjoying this new kind of high. The rush of all the new senses made me dizzy. Scents, sights, sounds, everything wasn't just better, it was entirely new. I walked around, feeling out my new body. I had the urge to jog around and try my new legs.

Chris was a veteran Raharu user, and that's the kind of person you want around when you try a new drug. You want someone who's done it before. This is true for any drug. Get stoned, and a veteran stoner knows just what music to play. Kind of like sex too. I walk near the door and she opens it. I leave the office and look around at the vast expanse of the factory. I think there's a reason the left it open like this. "You won't really like running on concrete at first. Too hard, hurts the pads, but trust me, this time of year, you do not want to run around outside with your fur on. You'll never cool down, but we have good air conditioning in here, so it's not bad." I start to jog on the concrete. Well, lope really, but I think of it like a jog, only not as tiring.

This body was made for a lot of things at once. I wondered how my brain fit in my new skull. But I was really as big as I'd been before. I'd lost no mass. "Hey, when you get done out there, come back to the office, I've got things to tell you." I turned and nodded my big doggy head. I tuned back to the open factory floor. I continued to jog, picking up speed, getting used to the legs and the hard feel of the concrete. When I felt ready, I went to one corner of the open floor. I set myself, picked out the the other corner. It was the longest straight line I could manage. I started running.

I ran as fast as I could, but I was too clumsy to pick up much speed. Still, I moved faster than I had ever even conceived of running. I turned back when I reached the opposite corner. I flipped around, or tried to. I slipped and fell, tripping over my own legs. Speedy maneuvering was still beyond me. But I was getting there, fast. I turned, set myself, and started sprinting. I was sure I hit the 40kph wolves are said to run at. I've gone faster in a car, but the sensation was... It was impossible to describe. This is the greatest high I have ever achieved, and I'm just running back and forth. I realized some of the workers were looking at me. Some of them smiled.

I sprinted back, and this time I stuck the turn. I sprinted back across, and turned once more. I was wearing myself out, but even that felt good. After two more passes, I decided it was high time I went back to the office. One of the workers touched the top of my head as a passed. I stopped and looked at him like he was crazy, apparently he understood. "Hey, you know a lot of people enjoy that". I cocked my head to the side. "Here, let me show you", he scratched behind my ears. My hair stood on end a bit, I was enjoying it. My tail wagged in approval. But I break the whole thing off and continue on.

I limped towards the office. Chris was right, concrete hurt. I had been too into my running to notice, but my paws were really aching. I limped into the office."What'd I tell you? Concrete was not designed for comfort. Come over and have a seat". She patted the empty side of the couch. The three men were gone. I hopped up and lay down. I kept my head up, and affected the most business-like manner I could. She said nothing. I realized I felt uncomfortable, so I stood up, turned a couple of times, the lay back down.

"Now, I'm going to come back to Sydney with you, and ensure you get everything set up with shipping. I'll give you a discount if you, say, give us warning for anything resembling a raid. But according to Dirk, you don't really do that. That's fine, I wish you would help on that front, but so long as you don't betray our trust, I'll be okay. Still, being a cop doesn't earn you much trust, knowing Dirk does. I would however, like your opinion on some things in a couple of weeks. Just your professional advice, help with my bosses trust issues. If you keep up that end, I'll keep up the shipments. And we make some good money".

I agreed with everything she said. Here I had been thinking myself some hotshit detective, but as always, I was easy to manipulate. I just wish I could see it when it's actually happening. "Come on Kale. I'll take you home. And don't worry about your car. I'll have one of our associates follow us with it."

She lead me out to the Rover. She got in the back, and I hopped in. I remembered my suit, just as I saw it in the back. Everything was going good I guess. Chris pats her leg, and I spend the drive in her thrall. I couldn't really understand why I was enjoying it so much. But then again, I didn't really bother with it. When we arrived back at Sydney, the driver went straight to my home. I wanted to ask how they knew, but again, I was a wolf, and lacked the proper equipment. Chris got out, I followed. I watched my continental slip into the car park. She asked me which apartment was mine. So, I obediently lead her right to it. She had grabbed my suit, and was now removing my key from its pocket. She let me in, put my stuff on the couch, and turned to leave. I whined a little, I didn't know I could do that."Don't worry, it'll wear off. Just wait, I'll come back tomorrow. Don't go anywhere, or I won't be able to find you". She left.

A little while later, I started feeling a pain in my gut. My gut expanded out to normal proportions. The fur began to recede. My face drew back in as my skull regained it's normal shape. My hands followed suit. The last was my tail. I was kind of sad to see it go. Now I'm human, and naked. So, I make at trip to the closet in order to get a pair of pants and a shirt. I return to the living room clothed. I look around, move my old body a little... I wish I was the wolf still. I go to the computer to check my mail. Shiro sent another letter. Apparently, Zeon Zum Diakun, the revolutionary, was killed in a car accident.

Some believe the death was not an accident, but a planned assassination by the federation. Shiro's worried, he doesn't know what's going to happen. I don't really remember Shiro being like this. He was always much more positive. I tell Shiro to stop listening to those morons down at the loading dock. They don't know what they're talking about. I tell him people aren't the blood thirsty wretches everyone makes them out to be. Most people are good at heart, and just want to live a good life. Even if the "new-type" morons think they're better, they're still just people. I can't believe they'd be evil enough to start a war. I send it and sign off. I have better things to do than worry about a war that will never come.


	4. Chapter 4: Party Time

Chapter 4: Party Time

The next morning I was awakened by Chris at about noon. We spent the day working out delivery routes for the trucks. Which dealers we could trust with the shipments, which needed to be kept out of the loop. Lee had given me a couple of weeks off to go all secret agent. Fortunately for Chris, I planned to report exactly nothing. This stuff was the most amazing drug I had ever experienced. We could make a killing with it. I mean, who wouldn't want to at least try it out. In the coming weeks I found there were many different kinds of Raharu. They referred to them as flavors, but they were really different animals. In between making arrangements for new production facilities, I tried different flavors. Some of the large cats were interesting, but boring over all. Smaller cats, like house cats, were just odd. You didn't lose any mass, so all you got was a really big house cat, and we'd essentially already tried that.

I managed to introduce Dirk to the stuff. He was a little skeptical, but ultimately found a liking for mountain lion. Of course that just meant I won my bet. I figured he would be more of a mountain lion kinda guy. Later we tried some other canids, but they all seemed to pale next to the wolf. At least in my mind. I was just more of a wolfy kinda guy I guess. I even tried some ursine flavors, bears for the layman. But once again, you don't gain or lose mass. So you turn into a pretty small bear. But those were just the general flavors. People could get custom flavors. Everything from changing fur coloration, to combining two or even three different species. But so far I just stuck with plane old wolf.

I spent the next couple of months doing things with Chris, Dirk, and another guy who had acted as a body guard on that first meeting. I also found out about a version of raharu that did what the regular kind did, but only half way. You get most of an animals attributes, but retain a mostly humanoid form. This version of the drug was much more expensive, but people paid all the same. I also found Chris had a certain preference for black panther. It fit with her black hair and all, and it certainly worked for her. She wasn't the prettiest woman, but she made a stunning animal.

The third week we all got together and went to a certain party. I didn't know the drug was getting so popular, so fast. It's been common practice to take certain mind expanding drugs, but this was beyond that. The party was invite only for good reason. When we got through the security and the coat room, I was greeted with a cornucopia sights, sounds, and fur colors. Many people had taken both standard, and type two versions of the drug. It was like a zoo, only... better, more interactive. I nearly got an eye put out by an elk, an elk of all things! Who the hell wants to be an elk!?

Our little group consisted of me, Dirk, Chris, and the man who was named Sylvester. We all went back to find what was fittingly dubbed "The changing room". There were oversized stalls that looked to have been taken from an old department store. We each took our own. I closed my stall door and began removing my cheap tennis shoes which I could afford to have stolen. I made sure not to crease my matching pin-stripe pants. I removed a small packet. Five large gel capsules filled the tiny bag. I removed one and placed it back in the pocket of my blue pin-stripe sport coat. I threw back the pill, swallowed, and waited. I minute and a half later I felt my guts tighten. It wasn't as bad as my first time, but still painful. I made sure to stand so long as my feet didn't feel funny.

My back popped so I leaned my on the door to take pressure off of my shifting spine. I had a hole in my pants for the tail, but I still had to help it out. My neck popped and cracked, then my skull started to shift. The popping and cracking now seemed to come from the center of my skull. My vision blackened, slewed strangely, I felt dissy. My face pushed out. I sprouted a beard of sorts, but it was much too soft to be facial hair. My hearing fluxed, as my vision distorted again. Colors shifted wildly, like someone was messing with the settings on a T.V. My feet started to hurt, so I sat down, allowing them to elongate and reshape. Two of my toes rapidly grew together, then shrank to the side as the two middle toes came to the forefront. All my digits were claw tipped. I sensed smells, people, heard conversations. My hands bulged and expanded into a more paw-like shape.

By the time my feet had become digitgrade, I was done. I wobbled on my strange feet, I had only done this once before. My Foot pads were larger than any real wolfs. I needed them that way to stand straight and still. The tail really helped with balance, hence the reason for the hole. Allowing it to swing free, adjusting my center of gravity by small degrees. Not enough to make a big difference, but enough to keep me from wobbling all over. I exited the stall to find myself alone. "Are they still changing? What's taking so long?" I said to myself. I leaned against Sylvester's door. He was one of Chris's friends, and everyone just called him Sly. I heard him grunt. "You all right in there Sly? What's taking so long?" Sly didn't respond. That probably meant he was still mid-way. It's hard to talk half changed.

Sly had a preference for the Siberian tiger. I couldn't understand why someone would want to be that white. But it did look cool, So I say kudos to him for pulling it off. I went over to Dirk's stall. Guy never made a sound during the change. I think he enjoyed it a little, like me and Chris. I thought about sneaking a peek at Chris. The shift was slightly arousing, but I'd rather keep shooting for the real deal with her, and that meant behaving. Dirk was the second one out. His shining golden fur was the same tone as his blond hair, which survived the change. He had it done up in a pony tail, but the bangs remained in his eyes in a youthful manner. Dirk wore a yellow hawaiian style shirt, with white flowers on it. A pair of white cargo shorts, and like myself, no shoes since his digitgrade feet didn't allow it.

Dirk was amazed I beat him out."Man, how do you do that so fast? All those organs movin round as quick as they'd have to. It can't be healthy." I smirked at the statement. Sly came out of his stall. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, and a old-style cotton button down shirt, cream colored from the lack of bleaching. His short, dark, reddish brown hair clashes with his white pelt. "Kale got out first? What the hell man? It's like you're made for this stuff." I turn to say something, when I'm cut off."Maybe he is." We all turn and see Chris. A She's wearing a black dress, the same color as her pitch black hair. Her dark shimmering fur makes her almost too black, like a hole in the room. Me, Dirk, and Sly, aren't really stunned, so much as transfixed by her appearance. I don't really feel anything when I look at her. I don't really feel comfortable anymore. She's too black, and she knows it.

I break the moment, "alright, we're all done. So let's go get drunk." Even Chris lets out a here here, as we wade into the mass of things that can claim to be people in the morning. Whenever they say we're gonna party like animals, this is the kind of thing they were talking about. Most of the party goers were not using their real faces. That means no embarrassing pictures, no one calling you an asshole in the morning. It's like a costume party, only extremely weird. I had never been to a party like this. Weird parties were one thing, but when the people who show up shift shapes as soon as they get there, it's like they leave the strangest things at the door. Some of the animal people were going naked. Fur helped make them appear less naked, but it was still a little unsettling.

I ended up finding us a booth so we could sit, talk, drink, and generally avoid dancing with any questionable elk ( I swear, the guy who nearly put out my eye was trying to hump random people). We sat and chatted, I wondered how safe it was to drink while I was like this. It didn't seem to affect anyone more than usual, so I deemed it safe. "Hey, you got anything stronger than this?" I realized Sly's question was directed at me. "Like what, the bar's well stocked. Why don't you go ask the bartender?" Sly chuckled,"no I meant, do you have anything that'll get me high? I need something to help me loosen up, and the drinks ain't doing it for me." I cocked my head to the side to show my puzzlement."I'm not a walking pharmacy Sylvester, I didn't bring anything because I was figuring they'd be playing some music, not this J-pop crap." So we dropped the subject and moved onto another.

"Hey Kale, why don't you sell the classics. I could hook you up with a friend of mine down in Columbia you know." Chris caught me off guard with that one."Are you talking about cocaine? Maybe Marijuana? I work at a police station guys, this is side business but I still need to have some morals to get by. I sell to cops, and people get less tolerant of me if I turn them into crack heads. And as for the Mary J., that's for private use only." Everyone smirked at the last statement. But Chris decided to press anyway."I sense a deeper story. Some crack head steal your stereo?" They laughed at that one, so I humored her."I've been a cop for the past five years. Three years doing patrol on side 2. I passed my detective exam when I transfered to Sydney. Same year I met Dirk here." I nodded to the him and he raised his glass in return.

"See, I've been doing this long enough, and I've seen my fair share of addicts. People so bad they looked like they just got out of a death camp. That sickened me, but the real clincher was Jessie. See Jes, she was a hard core addict, locked up awaiting trail on murder one. I wasn't involved in the case so I don't know the particulars, let's just say she looked like the kind of person who'd kill for her fix. And she had heard I could sneak in her little vice, heroin. She threatened to pull the old tattle tale ploy. So, I dipped into my own pocket to get her some. I even snuck it in , late at night so she could just go nuts. Next morning they found her dead. I was glad I made sure she had enough to OD." I took a sip off my rum and coke. "Never sold anything with those kind of side effects again. Now let's get some real music on!" I made my way to the D.J. And some old german metal played over the loud speaker. It certainly changed the mood. The rest of the party seemed half normal.

In retrospect it had been more of a club than a private get together. But thinking of it as a party helped me justify it. I got home okay. I did need a taxi, but I was still pretty coherent. I took a shower, planning to go to bed and sleep well into noon. As I got out and reached for a towel I got the urge to just shake off. A weird after effect maybe? I grabbed the towel and dried off. But as I did, I looked in the mirror. I realized how much more... wolf-like I had become over the past month. My teeth were sharper, my brown eyes had faded into a deep forest green. My body, which had once been somewhat pathetic, was now athletic, and lightly muscled. I looked like a fighter, and a runner. I realized something profound. This was turning me into something else, and I wanted it to. I went to bed after that, and slept like the dead who would be there tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5: All That You Know Is Ending

Chapter 5: All that you know is ending

The next morning I got called in to the station, Lee needed to show me something. When I got there he told me we were heading to the hospital. It was a short ride. "What's going on Lee. Is it's those patients?" He looked at me and flashed a haggard smile."I just came back from there to do a briefing. It's a mess, and I can't give you any real answers. But I hope that after I show you this you'll work harder on the little case I gave you." I was about to ask what he meant when we arrived. After that I never got a chance to talk. "Right there is were they had the truck waiting. An unknown group of men exited a panel van right here in the parking lot. They entered, pacified the staff, while half their "team" headed for the patients." We entered the lobby, and I started to realize what had happened.

Shots had been fired, there was blood on the wall were someone had obviously been "pacified". We continued towards the wing where the sufferers of Raharu syndrome had been kept. "We still don't know who they were, but we do know they had a contact inside, because this whole thing coincided with this mess back here." As we walked down one of the main hallways I began to notice things. A broken gurney or chair, a wrecked crash cart, a young man sitting with a bandage around his arm. It looked like he'd been mauled."The first girl we had brought in for treatment, named Sera, her symptoms worsened while you were gone. She began suffering from severe malnutrition. Soon after many of the other patients suffered the same. They fed as many nutrients into them as they could, and the symptoms stabilized. They were still malnourished, but they weren't dyeing."

We neared the first woman's room. Something was wrong with the wall, and the door."She had some visitors who claimed to be family, but some of the descriptions match, so we think they planned this. After the visit, one doctor got a bright idea, weigh her." I turned a questioning eye,"weigh her?" Lee laughed as we stood next to the rooms entrance. The door and most of the wall had been ripped apart. There was a large chunk of medical equipment in the wall across from the room. "See, somebody noticed she'd gotten bigger. Sera had come in normal sized young woman, and they found she had gotten much bulkier. In fact, the day they tried to move her for weighing, it took four men. They didn't need that many men last week. The funny part is, she hadn't really gotten that big. Maybe a couple of inches in height, a little thicker, more muscular I'd say. But when they weighed her, they found that this 140 pound girl, had gained over 175 pounds."

'Hold the phone,' I thought to myself. 'Raharu can't make you bigger than you already are. There's no magical mass increase.'

"How is that possible? People who weigh that much... What's going on? are you telling me she weighed 315 pounds? What the hell did they give her?" Lee sighed and sat down, looking into the destroyed room. I noticed he seemed off kilter. He was trying to redefine what was, and was not possible. And he was failing."It was a high protein and calcium diet. They were trying to buy time for them. But this virus, man, they played right into it's hands." I stopped him on that one."Virus, this is a virus." Lee leaned back, his face seemed older. He ran a hand through his short black hair."Yeah, turns out Raharu is a very complex virus. So complex that we can't even figure out the barest depths of it's capabilities. If it weren't so heavily engineered I'd worry about it going airborne. But I think we figured out what it does."

Lee straightened up, and took a breath."See, they figured that somehow the virus was using her cells as storage for various building materials. You can't get something from nothing, so it built up until it had enough material to massively restructure her body, and maybe her mind. For all we know, the exact same thing could happen to the other patients, we think that's why they took all of them." I realized what he meant. They had taken everyone with raharu syndrome. And judging by the damage done, oh god. "At 9:45 she went into some kind of convulsion. At 9:50 they began to notice she was rapidly increasing in size. She bulked up to weightlifter proportions in record time. They also noticed strange coloration's on her skin, and she rapidly grew fur, black and white fur. As near as anyone can tell, she turned into a panda." I choked.

"What!? A panda!? What the freaking hell, all that build up-" Lees look cut me off again. "I said, as near as anyone can tell, it was a panda. Well, that's a bad description, pandas are considered cute and cuddly. But if you've ever been attacked by one you'd say they were frickin bears, end of story. Needless to say, the descriptions are colorful." He threw me a sketch. It looked like a panda. But in the same way I had looked like a wolf last night. She still had her hair, and really, her face looked human, but only in the vague way that had seemed common at last nights party. I returned the picture to Lee.

"Heh, if you still think she's cute, she killed everyone in the room by the time her little 'transformation' was done. Then she threw that thing, worth about twenty grand, through the door. She proceeded to wreck havoc for about two minutes. Not really a murderous rampage, in my opinion, she was freaked out, scared. Then her friends showed up, and witnesses say she calmed down then. Helped them carry off the rest, some nearing the same stage she had come through not three minutes ago. Listen Kale, if you know anything, anything at all, you tell me right now, no excuses." I looked at the room. The sheets were shredded, there was blood all over the room. I've seen animal attacks, they're not bloody. This was what a human did with an animals tools."This is what the drug is supposed to do. Turn people into animals, let them experience a different form entirely. I've tried it, and it's an experience. But this... this is different. I'll see if I can get more info on this. As for the men who came and took the others, I'll see what my contact knows. But other than that I haven't got any real answers." I sighed. Lee looked at me, his eyes trying to find my intentions."I'll give you some time for that. But if you need back-up, anything, call me. I'll get them to look the other way on any deals you've done, just bring me what I need to know."

That day I went out with Chris to scout a costal village over a mountain and away from the main production facility. I was planning to ask her about all this on the way, but I put it off until we were heading home. The village had proved too close to international shipping lanes to be worth using as a shipping point. I drove the continental, three of Chris's associates rode in back, Sly was amongst them. Chris was riding shotgun. "Chris, I was wondering, what do you know about raharu syndrome?" Chris looked at me in puzzlement,"what do you mean?" I kept my attention on the road for the most part. "It's this disease I've been hearing about back at the station. It sounds bad. It involves overdoses, but why would someone overdose? I mean, one pill does it, why would someone take more than one?" At that moment, the ground rumbled hard enough for us to feel it in the frame of the lincoln. A bright flash came as well. I didn't even see what direction it came from before a wave of over pressure flipped the car into a ditch. After that, I fell unconscious.

When I woke up I was in the back of my car. Chris was holding my head in her lap. "What-", she put a finger on my lips. "Stay still, you bumped your head. Sly and the others got the car off it's side, we're heading to the facility to see the damage." I didn't feel like talking, I just wanted to lay there, being held. The ride was uneventful since I just stared at the celling. I couldn't think, my brain was pounding. When we arrived Chris gasped."Can you let me up dear?" I did what she said, and sat up. My head pounded worse. I stared out into warm australian landscape. Heat rushed in as Chris opened her door and got out. I turned to see her go, and saw what had made her gasp. The facility responsible for the majority of production was leveled.

I staggered out of the car and made my way towards the wreckage. The whole place was just... gone. I wandered into the wreckage with the vague idea of finding survivors. Chris went to confer with the others. I saw a body and tried to move a large piece of metal covering it. "Hey guys, come on, help me, this guy might still be-", strong hands grabbed me from behind. "What the hell are you doing!?" Sly stood in front of me, a look of hate in his eyes."You fucking bastard, what the hell did we say?" I tried to say something in my defense, but Sly's fist silenced me with a shot to the gut. He began to pummel me mercilessly."We said we'd kill your ass if you betrayed us. And you went and did it anyway you fucking bastard!" He punched square in the face, causing my nose to spray blood. "Enough Sly, I've decided we shouldn't kill him." She approached, I stared down, unable to hold my head up. She placed a finger under my chin, and raised my eyes to hers.

"You wanted to know what I knew about something, what was it?" Her face was sweet, sweet like a poison apple. I stared at her, my face a blank slate, except for the fear. The fear was there. I opened my bloody mouth to say something, I don't really know what, anything really. She turned and put her hand over my mouth."Now now, I already know what you want to hear. You want to hear about what we do to traitors." My face went white, I struggled to get free, to run like the wolf I was supposed to be."Come now, I thought you liked your medicine? Hold him." The two men grabbed my head to hold it still, but I struggled. Sly punched me a few more times. I opened my mouth to tell them to stop one more time, and Chris jammed a handful of pills in my mouth. Red gel capsules to be specific.

"I know about those comatose fucks. Most of them just screwed up, but some of them tried to screw us. So we gave them more of what they always wanted, a little too much in fact." Sly held mouth closed. I struggled to spit out the pills, I could feel them dissolving as I tried not to swallow. "Make him swallow, and make sure he keeps it down." They followed her order, and proceeded to make me swallow. A few punches to the face, and then the held my nose an mouth. An old trick, but you try it sometime and tell me how you like chocking on your own fluids. I struggled, tears in my eyes. I couldn't breath, so I gulped the pills down. It was nearly a mouthful, but by god, I swallowed them all.

They released me, and I dropped to the ground on my hands and knees, gasping. I looked to Chris, she was smiling at how pathetic I was. "Chris, I.. I didn't do it, I swear to god I didn't. Why would the cops blow-," one of the men kicked me in the side, they didn't want to hear it. I remembered the pills. I needed to get them out. The others began walking back to my car. I tried to gag myself, trying to throw up. A piece of metal hit me in the side of the head. Sly swung the tire iron again, and everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6: Now It's Personal

Chapter 6: Now It's Personal

I shuffled along a few more steps before I couldn't resist anymore. I doubled over coughing. I wheezed and hacked up blood for nearly a minute. I was trying to keep it down, keep from coughing. The blood was unnerving, and I lost precious minutes. I had no idea how long I had until I dropped into what might as well be a coma. The dirt road was starting to seem longer than it was before. I had to get back to Sydney, get myself into a hospital. Lee might be angry, at me, or himself, I didn't seem to know like I would have before. One thing was for sure, I'd lost Chris, but I'd get her back, and make her pay. But right now I need someone to keep me alive until that crap they forced down my throat finishes.

I wasn't relishing the thought of what I was going to turn into. The only pill crate she could have gotten to was full of wolf pills. At least fate had given me that. I was nearing a town were the road started up again. I had been hoping to catch a ride into the city, but there was a complication. What I had seen on the horizon hadn't been the town, only the rubble. There wasn't much left standing. The sturdier concrete buildings were blown through, their roofs were blown off or on fire, their insides stripped of everything. The wooden buildings weren't even there anymore. The basements that remained were filled with debris, and things that I wasn't quite sure of.

I wandered on, clutching my left arm. It was starting to hurt. My steps were uneven. I'm unsure as to wether that was because of the drug, or what I was seeing. I was getting closer to the road that would lead me to Sydney. This town was in bad shape, but my home was too big to be hurt like this. I smelled slaughtered meat. A side of beef was in the road. But as I neared it, I realized what it was. "Holy mother of god." I stared at it, a human body, its skin stripped cleanly off. It hit me, what I had seen in the basements, bodies. "Holy hell, holy fuck!" I turned down the street and forced myself to run. I didn't stop until I was outside of town. And when I reached the next former township, it was better. Even the concrete buildings were gone.

I had done it. A hundred or so miles on foot, and I had reached home by nightfall. But home was gone too. My guts where full of glass, my bones where burning, my skin felt like it was sloughing off. And now, this. Sydney was a crater, the biggest I had ever seen. It was miles across. The edges were still red hot, nearly molten even now, I couldn't get close. The sea had rushed in long ago, steam was shrouding the entire area, keeping me from seeing the whole expanse. The steam was hard on my lungs. I coughed weakly into my hand right hand, already it was dripping with blood. I looked at how it had become puffy, strange, misshapen in the past few hours. I curled it back to my chest, as my left hand hung limp at my side. I had lost all feeling in it an hour or so after the second town.

I turned my back on what had once been my home. Lee, Dirk, everyone in the department, every girl I had met since I moved here. Sharon next door, she had taken me to all the good bars on my first night here. I liked her, she was sweet. What had happened to them? Had they evacuated? The bodies from before seemed to say no. 'That doesn't mean anything, people stay during natural disasters. It could have been those morons.' I thought. "Shut up you bloody moron, this isn't a natural disaster and you know it. In all likelihood it was a nuke or something." I said to myself. 'What kind of nuke blows down buildings a hundred miles away?' I thought. "A really big nuke! Chances are we're dead already, we've been coughing up blood for how long? It's probably radiation sickness." I said to the other me. 'We've been coughing like this for nearly sixty miles, hours. If the radiation was strong enough to give us a lethal dose that far out, then we should be dead now.' The other me thought. "Yeah, you're probably right." I said, as I turned and started off. 'Where are you going?'

I laughed,"the next town of course. We'll have to hurry." Part of my mind squirmed, my body weakened. 'What's the point!? We spent all that time getting to the epicenter of it. They'll be blown apart too!' I laughed again,"just a second ago you were saying we weren't going to die from radiation. Why are you so bummed?" I said to my inner child. "Because there's no point! We'll just die anyway!' I continued on. My left eye was half lidded, I couldn't see much out of it. It just refused to open. "Because, the people who did this to us", my right leg starts to drag, I am no longer able to lift it."Those people, they're still alive." My back hurt, as my weariness, seemed to double. "Somewhere out there, Chris is still alive. And I won't rest until I get them BACK!!" I collapsed onto one knee. "And if you're not going to help me, then... Go AWAY!!"

A weight lifted, something in me had gone. I stood, the other me didn't answer. I looked up into mist, the sun peaked through the dust clouds high above. The sky was almost gone now. I started to laugh as a strange jet passed through the mist. My legs worked of their own accord, wobbling me along as I stared at the sky, at the sun, for maybe the last time. The mist closed, returning me to the half light. But even in this light, I felt its shadow cover me. I lowered my eyes, staring at a shadow, high in the mist. In the lower part of my vision, I saw a tank crash through the mist. A small canopy sat on top of the turret. With the stubby wings on the sides the turret looked like some kind of fighter plane. But I didn't lower my gaze for a better look. The tank swept the mist with it, revealing a large armored man.

No, not a man, a large machine, shaped like a man. It was olive drab, with a black plate on its chest that seemed like a hatch. Its left shoulder was rounded, with a menacing trio of spikes attached. Its right shoulder was squared, a solid slab of armor hanging off. Its head was dome-like, with a wide slit in the front, like a helmet. Two hoses came around the sides and met below the slit, entering a box-like protrusion with a vent on the front. A purple light seemed to appear in the eye slit. The light slid back and forth, then tracked in on me. I realized it was an eye, a camera. I noticed the strange and immense rifle in its hands, as it turned to get a better look at me. I went down on my knees and looked up at it. My face held no love, no hope, no fear or anger. I was a ragged and bloody mess, my clothes where covered in my life, and my death. I stared at a weapon greater than I had thought could exist. I did not know it at the time, but I was looking at my first mobile suit, as I slumped forward, in the death I made for myself.


	7. Chapter 7: Blood, Fangs, And Heavy Metal

Chapter 7: Blood, Fangs, And Heavy Metal

Consciousness, a fleeting image... I can't see anything, pain... A needle, why can't I wake up? Where am I? Is this my hell? Waiting...

A light, a voice, I can almost see."Do you know what happened to you? We can't figure out what's wrong with you. If you can hear me, try to tell the doctors what's wrong. I don't want to see you die after saving you." A woman's voice. I hear her, I need to speak. "Ra... food, water." I can speak, but my mind doesn't know what to say. The words, the words are gone. I cry out weakly. A hand presses down on my chest. "I know you're in pain, but they can't give you anymore morphine right now, it could kill you." I calm down, and try not to think of how my bones feel molten. Every nerve is a dull flame, I try not to think of what it would be like without the medication."Who... are you? I saw a monster." I can't think of the right word, it was a machine, but the word... I can't... I don't understand.

"My name is Saria, Saria Tlvosen." I smile. "Nice... they chose well." I can make out Sarias face, she's pretty. "Who? Chose what?" I smile again. "Your parents... they picked a good one." The most words I've gotten out for a while. "How...Long?" I ask. "You've been here nearly three weeks now. You've been suffering from malnutrition, and something else." I smile again, knowing what the "else" is. "How do... I look?" She smiles, she's prettier when she smiles. "Honestly?" It's bad, "please." She shifts likes she's uncomfortable. At least I think, I still can't see much."Well, truth is you look like hell." I smile knowingly again. "Not... as bad... as it will be."

She leans in,"listen, if you know what's wrong with you tell us. We can help." I try to move, it stirs more pain. "Raharu... You can't... do anything." She leans forward. "The doctors, whatever disease this is they can fix it. Cheer up." My body locks up, she senses something's wrong. But I need to tell her. "It's not!... A disease, drug... They drugged me." She tries to hold me down as I start to toss and turn. "Who would do that?" My motions become more violent. "BITCH!!" I scream, and I start into convulsions.

Real doctors come, the base has all the best. But they still don't know what to do. The man on the table seems deformed, and getting worse. The doctors try to strap him down, but it's almost like he's fighting them. The room a long steel barracks, done up for hospital use. Patients down the row try to get a better look. There are so few, but they've heard what the doctors said. Only a few bet on the long shot that he might live. The three doctors struggled with the flailing man. "Get his leg, get his damn leg!" The third man grabbed at his leg, as it kicked repeatedly against the metal frame at the end of the bed. The third doctor grabbed the leg, only to have it kick free, and dent the bedpost. He stood there in disbelief for a moment.

"I SAID GRAB HIS LEG!" The first and senior doctor yelled. "He's too damn strong! He was as weak as a kitten just a few minutes ago!" The second man cried as he tried to hold him down. The sick mans arm rose up, twisted and cracked, then came down on the second man. Five large rents appeared in the doctors chest as he fell back. The other two stared at him, his chest began to bleed. They looked at the hand, the sick man had stopped for the moment. His hand was clawed, the palm had thick black pads. The arm curled back to his chest and ripped across his own chest. The hospital gown he was in tore away. His chest rippled and flowed as new mass built beneath the skin. His face was growing outward, he ears had pointed, and his teeth had become sharp fangs.

The sick man convulsed once, then continued unabated. The second man got back up to hold him down. A solider with the flu walked over to help. The four of them tried to hold the man down the changing man. Brown fur started to grow across his body. His yells became growls. The teeth became more numerous, his elongated outward. His nose turned black, and his snarls became more fierce. His leg got loose, and kicked the bedpost again. Steel tore free, and the bed swayed. They held the man as best they could. A tail spouted from the end of his spine. He was covered in fur, muscles rippled beneath them. A wolfs head had replaced the old. The bed collapsed as the man kicked free. He grabbed the older doctor by the shirt and threw him across the room. The third doctor at the end of the bed got kicked, and went flying. The wolf man backhanded the second doctor. The soldier fell back, tripping over his own legs, and turning to catch himself. The soldier turned back to see the wolf man sitting on the bed, looking at his own hands.

I watched the wounded stumble to get away. The doctors were unconscious, or dead. I looked at the man who had tried to hold me. He was a soldier, he wore the uniform. He smelled of fear and sickness. I moved towards him and he tried to scream. I grabbed him off the floor and held him up by his shirt. My new body was so much stronger. "Where am I?" The man was nearly in hysterics. "Zeon rearward supply base Bravo, australian continent!" I thought for a moment. Did this mean they had declared war? "What happened to Sydney? And don't lie because I can smell it." Wether I could or not didn't matter, so long as he thought I could."Oh god! Please God!" I shook him."Start talking or I'll send you to meet him!" The soldier screamed,"OPERATION BRITISH, WE DROPPED A COLONY ON IT!"

I lowered the man, but didn't let him go. A colony? Thousands of people in the colony, millions in Sydney. The surrounded towns and cities, tens of thousands. Millions dead, millions. Armed men came into the front of the medical building."STOP!!" They are the enemy, I'm in the enemy camp. Millions. I grabbed the man with the flu, and in one motion threw him at them. He flew a few yards and impacted into the group of soldiers. I turned and ran on my strange feet for the exit at the other end. My feet are digit-grade, for good this time. I open the door into the night to find more men moving into position. They raise their guns. I leap back planning to hop back into the building for cover. Instead I fly upwards and land on the smooth metal roof.

I barely have time to realize what I've done when bullets fly over my head. The rifle reports hurt my new ears. I start to sprint along the roof, moving like the wind. A bullet whizzes past, and I start to slide. The roof is rounded, and smooth. I slam my hands into the roof, my claws pierce the material. More shots get me scrambling up. Around skims my side and I yelp. I start to run again, on all fours now. I leap off the end and sprint across the road towards some hangers. Large transport planes are inside them. I run between the hangers and buildings, outpacing my pursuers till I lose them entirely.

Alarms are going off all over. Nearby fighters are being scrambled in order to find me from the air. I see a huge building, bigger than the hangers. I see someone in some kind of flight suit. A woman with hazel hair. Saria. She's running towards the hanger. So I follow. She moves to a door, and types in a code on a keypad to the side of the door. As the door slides open I sprint away from a nearby building and grab her. I cover her mouth and wrap my right arm around her chest and arms. She's scared. When did I get so tall, or is she just short. "Quiet, I don't want to hurt you." The doors slides shut on its timer. We're in a small antechamber, an immense room is beyond it, but I hold her here for now.

She looks at the furred arm holding her mouth and tries to yell. "I said be quiet! I don't want to hurt you. It's me, the guy you saved. Told you it'd get worse." I chuckle and she eases the tiniest bit. I guess I did that right."Now, I'm gonna let you go, but you can't scream." I felt her nod. I let her go. She turned and got a good look at me."God, what... how?" I looked down at myself."Well, it's kind of a long story, but this isn't the first time the happened. Though it is the last maybe." She looked at me funny."This has happened before. When I first found out about this I thought it was permanent. But believe it or not, people made themselves like this for fun. It was a drug, and this is what happens when you take too much."

I couldn't read her face anymore."So, you did this to yourself?" A smirk crossed my face,"sort of. It wears off normally, but a former friend of mine did this to me in order to kill me. I guess all she did was give me a good weapon." I looked at my hand and smiled my toothy smile. It felt more like a snarl. Saria looked toward my lower parts. And embarrassed look crossed her face when she realized I was more naked than either of us thought."You... come on, there are some flight suits that should fit you." She led me into the hanger, and into a locker room off to the side. She handed me a green Zeon flight suit. I was skipping over the fact that she was with the enemy, the guys who killed all those people. I wondered what she thought of that, of starting a war. I was sure a war was on now.

I came out from behind a locker in the suit. "Hey, whadya know, it fits perfect." I said. "One size fits all, though I don't think the boots will fit. Or the gloves." She stated, looking at my hands and feet. I turned and left the locker room, looking up. Three large machines stood in repair stalls. Saria came out."They're called mobile suits. Amazing aren't they?" I smiled to myself. "Yes Saria, I do believe they are magnificent weapons." I turned to look back at her. "So much so that I think I need to take one." She tried to move away from me, so I grabbed her arm and held her there."And you're gonna have to help me. Cause you bastards dropped a colony on my home. And if you don't want to die on principals, I suggest you cooperate."

The ZakuII lumbered out of the repair stall slowly, as the main door slid open. I saw Saria at the controls, as per orders. She started to run away, just like I said she should. The door finished opening as I reached it. The Zaku towered over the people below. The alarms were still going. People were searching for me. In those first few moments they figured I was friendly. The controls weren't second nature yet, but I knew the basics. She had uploaded a control diagram that showed what every little button did. I could puzzle over the finer features later, for now I moved the Zaku forward. I crossed the main road in one step, and the next crushed a small pre-fab building. A few more steps and I had a handle on walking. I was also far enough away to do what I needed to do safely.

Very little could stand up to a mobile suit, accept for another mobile suit. I turned around and raised the Zaku machine gun. Its strange circular clip came up as I shouldered the rifle. Though by all definitions it should be an auto-cannon, but who's arguing? I target one of the two inert mobile suits, and open fire. Bullets slam into it, rending the armor, and puncturing the reactor. Both mobile suits explode along with the building. I chuckle a little, then I start to laugh. I look around and notice a tank. I turn and fire at it, a quick three round burst. The tank is rattled by two missed shots. The third hits home, obliterating the tank. I notice some fighters pull around and start firing their guns. The bullets ping off the Zakus armor."Not even a scratch." I turn the machine gun on them, and blow them out of the sky.

"I better get out of here, before they figure out a way to hurt this thing." I turn towards the horizon. Fire flickers, casting a shadow on everything. I hit the booster units and leap nearly a half mile. Carrying me out of the base. I turn and give the place one last look. "Only the beginning." I smile, and turn the Zaku out into the night.


	8. Chapter 8: Zaku, FIGHT!

Chapter 8: Zaku, FIGHT!!

The Zaku slowly made its way across the vast expanse of the Australian plains. The cockpit opened, the frontal armor lifting upward, the inner air tight hatch lowered making a platform the pilot could stand on. Kale Suro stepped out onto the platform, holding onto the handle built into the outer hatch above him. The Zaku continued its steady pace as he stood there. Kale's brown fur had acquired a healthy sheen since he had found that MRE jammed into a side compartment. There were still the left, and those would have to last him. He raised a paw and picked at his rows of sharp teeth with an even sharper claw.

"I wonder where the army is? I can't imagine the Federation giving up so easily." Kale looked out over the expanse, the next hill cut his forward view. He was sure the next city was near, and in that direction. In a minute or so he'd be up the hill and he'd know for sure. In the mean time he went back in and plopped into the pilots seat. He removed an MRE from the side compartment and started his lunch. The Zaku lumbered on.

After his escape last night, they had tried to get him with more of the strange fighters. Apparently the tanks couldn't keep up. The fighters machine guns were useless against the Zakus thick armor, but the dumb fire rockets nearly caught him off guard. They might have hit him if they could use guidance systems in those rockets. Kale had heard of Minovsky physics, and knew something about the way they could be used in war. Apparently the Minovsky interference was high in the area between the supply base, and whatever he was heading for. Fun fact, while M particles can help hide, they can also help you be found. The Zaku had a sensor that read the amount of M particle interference. If the particles were being generated, that meant there was fighting. So the more interference, the closer he was to a battle, and thusly closer to his allies, the Feds.

So, as the counter got higher and higher, Kale got warier and warier. The Zaku adjusted its walk as it started up the incline of the hill. The interference was high now. And as it crested the hill, Kale saw a city. It was huge, nearly the Size of Sydney. It was known as Sea Break. And Sea Break was a mess. From where Kale was he couldn't see much past the outer suburbs, the coast, the port, was on the other side of the city. Kale looked in between the buildings and saw another Zaku. The sounds of explosions and gun far echoed.

Kale sat back in his seat, and hit the button to close the hatch. He strapped in, and started to spin up the reactor so he could run. He used the tips of his claws to press the buttons, his fingers were too wide and paw-like. The Zaku started down the hill and up a street through the suburb and towards the center of town.

The tank sat in the lobby of a hotel. Various relays hidden in the buildings said the zaku unit was heading towards the Calypso hotel, and that was where they lay in wait. The federation tank sat, a couch crushed under its treads, and its dual 105 millimeter cannons leveled down the street. A tremor could be felt now, as the gunner steeled his nerves. He'd only get one shot at bringing this bastard down. If the tank crew failed, their lives were forfeit. And now the gunner felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. The tank couldn't outrun the Zaku I unit, and its guns couldn't bring it down unless it got one of the higher vulnerable spots, which its guns couldn't hit if the mobile suit go too close.

The suit rounded the corner, checking up the street as it leaned out. It spotted them. A volley of zaku machine gun bullets struck the building, but not the tank as it fired its main guns. The tanks shells struck the round left shoulder, and severed the left arm from the torso. But the unit was still active, and by the time the next set of rounds were ready, the tank would be dead. The zaku unit recovered and raised its machine gun in their direction. The sound of weapons fire echoed. The enemy zakus leg was blown through by a large round, three more shots followed after, shattering its cockpit and weapon. It slumped to the ground and ceased to move.

The tank crew watched in disbelief. They had been saved. Another, larger, and more menacing Zaku II. It opened a frequency to the tank. "Hey, you guys need some help?" The tank commander keyed his mike."Who is this?" The Zaku turned and faced the tank in full. "Name's Kale Suro, detective first class, Sydney police department. I'm here to get into this war. Got some payback I need to deal." The commander looked down at the rest of the crew." I guess we got a mobile suit now." He keyed the mike again."Alright mobile suit, we'll escort you, keep our guys from shooting. There's some fighting deeper into town. They could use you." The Zaku pumped its right fist in confirmation.

I followed the tank down the street. Keeping at its speed gave me a chance to cool my reactor. The heat wasn't high, but I didn't want it to build up so early. The tank came to a street and stopped. "What's going on?" I asked."There are mobile suits nearby, be ready. Ground troops are engaging, so watch your fire." The tank rounded the corner and accelerated to full speed. I followed as its turret rotated and tracked around the next corner, firing its main guns when it stopped. I could hear yells, and more explosions. I rounded the corner, stepping over the tank. A zaku I stood two blocks away in an intersection. It leveled a large bazooka down the street, towards the tank between my feet. You could almost see the shock in the enemy zaku as I leveled my machine gun.

The zaku leveled its bazooka as a round struck its right leg. Kale's zaku sprinted forward firing as it went. Suddenly the chamber clicked empty."Ammo!? I forgot the ammo!" The enemy zaku aimed its bazooka at Kale. His zaku in turn dodged left as it reached the next intersection. He flipped it around slamming its back into a building, using it as cover and protecting his cockpit. The enemy zaku was wounded, its leg too damaged to move. "Darama, I need some back up here. They got a zaku, and they're using it." As the zaku pilot called for backup, Kale reloaded his gun with a spare clip. The tank he had saved rolled forward to catch up. Its main guns fired, streaking past the zaku.'They missed?' Kale thought. Then he heard the rounds strike their target. A zaku II had appeared further down the street. The shot found its mark, and the second zaku was enveloped in a small explosion. "One down." Kale said with a smirk. Then the first zaku fired its bazooka.

The rocket streaked towards the building Kale was hiding behind. The rocket exploded through the building, throwing Kale's zaku forward. The bazooka tracked in on him. Kale's zaku swung around and went down on one knee, bringing the rifle to bear. Kale's rifle fire tore into the zakus midsection, and then its shoulder, causing it to fall backwards. The bazooka tracked up and fired high, striking a building. Dust and debris rained down. In this time Kale noticed that the other zaku wasn't down. As he shot the first zaku, the smoke cleared from the other. It had angled its shield forward to take the attack. As Kale tried to shoot him as well, the enemy leveled his own machine gun. Then the debris and dust kicked out by the bazooka hit ground level. They both fired through the dust wave as it engulfed them.

Darama moved his Zaku back, he didn't want to fight blind. He didn't notice the troops in the building next to him as the leveled their rocket launchers. Two rockets streaked into his main camera, the head of the mobile suit. The rounds damaged it, but didn't take it out. Startled, and half blinded, Darama turned and sprayed the building with his machine gun. Chunks of the building exploded outward enshrouding Darama in dust. None of the rounds hit the tiny soldiers directly, but caused the floor to collapse from under them. One man fell down the face of the building to his death. The second hung onto a slab of concrete. Darama was blind again. He heard the sound of a running mobile suit. He turned in time to take a tempered steel shoulder to the lower abdomen of his mobile suit.

The enemy zaku slammed into a building. Kale move forward before it could recover. He rammed his rifle into the cockpit. Darama screamed as the hatch bent inward, then the tip of the rifle pierced like a spear, impaling him. Kale fired, and the back of the Zaku blew out. Blood gushed from a hole in the cockpit. Kale activated his booster units and tore free before the zaku could explode. But it didn't, so Kale turned back to the other wounded zaku. Kale took the time to help the hanging soldier down. Then he moved on to the zaku laying on the ground. Its leg had broken off when it tried to get away. Its bazooka was on the ground behind it. Too far to be of any use. Kale stepped forward, and ignored the screams from the pilot. He put a bullet in its back.


	9. Chapter 9: The Animal I Have Become

Chapter 9: The Animal I have Become

The single tank rumbled into the federation army base. It carried two soldiers on its exterior, one lay in a medical pallet. Only the few corps men awaiting the wounded man didn't look up, they only glanced.

The tank had radioed ahead and informed the base of their impromptu ally. This ensured no one shot at the lumbering behemoth, but still, a mobile suit is a very imposing machine. Large, green, and menacing, the zakuII made everyone at least a little anxious. Once the great automaton was within the base proper, it began to lower itself. Going down on a single knee, as though preparing to pay homage to a king, the cockpit opened. A man stood up from the pilots seat and came towards the front of the cockpit. He grasped a handhold and leaned out.

People were already realizing something was wrong with the man. His head seemed seemed wrong, elongated. And people initially assumed he was black, though his skin was very strange. The handhold the man had grasped seemed to break free, and they realized it was a small winch of some sort, a cable began to pay out. The man swung out, hanging by one hand as the cable lowered him. As he got closer to the ground he seemed to get stranger and stranger. Two protrusions stuck out of his hair, and they began to realize they were ears, like that a of a dog. He wasn't black either, he had some sort of brown beard, but that soon resolved to be fur, honest to god fur. People began to notice the tail poking through the back of the green flight suit.

An undercurrent of panic was starting to set in. What many had assumed to be an ally, a friend, was really some sort of monster. Whispers amongst the crowd speculated."He's some kind of bio-weapon, I know it." "It's a costume" "I think I saw a discovery channel show on him." "Jesus, what happened to his face?!" "Oh god, a werewolf!" None of these speculations were true of course. Kale's long paw-like feet touched the ground, the heels stayed elevated, forcing him to bend his legs in order to maintain balance. Everyone close enough to get a good look was wide eyed. It sure as hell wasn't a costume, you could be sure of that. Nobody moved, Kale continued to stand motionless, waiting for them to make the first move.

Finally the base commander himself stepped forward. The commander was a shrewd man, he had to be, he was fighting mobile suits with tanks. Not the best match up, and he had very few tanks left at his command. A mobile suit with even a half trained pilot, he could do wonders with a tactical asset like that. If the pilot was some sort of freak, well then he'd make sure the guy was THEIR freak. The commander offered his hand,"Welcome to Sea Break soldier."

That momentous occasion was about a week ago. I'm still getting funny looks every now and then, but I'm getting by. A fair number have even gotten used to me, even sympathized. But not a single person wanted to be close to me for more than the time it took to eat lunch, and I couldn't blame them. I'm not the most joyous person to be around, in fact my depression is starting to become infectious. I've been fielded 3 times so far, and I'm getting better at this piloting business. I always was good in the loading docks back on side 2. That's another thing to add to my list of reasons I'm depressed. My home, my real home, the one where everyone I love is, was gassed. The exact number of deaths is yet to be confirmed. So far I haven't been able to get word on Shiro, or my sisters, or my parents.

They didn't bullshit me when they said it wasn't pretty. The photos, god, I'll never forget those. I haven't really cried yet, I keep thinking I should, but what sense does it make to do that. They're dead, me being a big wuss isn't going to help. But hey, I'm already sitting on my bed sulking, why should I stop there? Because I'm angry now, that's why. It's locked away for now, I want that anger for when I kill the bastards who did all this to me. Zeke bastards, if it wasn't for them, everyone I know would still be alive, and I wouldn't be this, this damned thing! 'You knew something bad would come of your involvement with Chris. She was peddling serious drugs, not those double strength anti-depressants you were dealing. You screwed up right from the beginning, and you got what you deserved.' I gripped my head, the voice was back."How about you shut the fuck up?" A laugh sounded through my mind. 'Sure, I'll let you stew in your own juices. But know this, you reap what you sow. The instigators matter not, your form is your own doing, it always was, always will be.' And with that, the voice was gone.

Lately I'd been stalking some of the female staff around the base. Almost everyone was part of the war effort now. At least they were if they wanted a chance to live. Life for civilians has really gone to hell these days. I here the residents of Sea Break are in a refugee camp far from here. I hear a lot of things these days. These ears of mine pick up a lot you know. But recently I've found myself longing for human contact, physical contact, of a more risqué nature. It's not like I was a casanova back in my detective days. In fact I never really could get along with women on a sexual and emotional basis. It was always either one, or the other. I had a few lady clients who had a tendency to pay for their "medication" with "favors". And then of course I had girl friends who I never even tried to pursue. They were just friends to me, though sometimes they wanted more. I invariably started shying away from those kinds of advances from my lady friends. The relationships had a tendency to fail when they got physical. Besides, those clients of mine provided all I needed on the sexual front.

But I shouldn't be thinking about that, I need to be more realistic. So these days I had been falling "asleep" in convenient places. I often tried to look cute and innocent. Which is harder than it sounds. My old self could be cute as a button, which is a fun little advantage. It's my only advantage now. My cuteness seemed to carry over into my new form for the most part. Now all I have to do is pass out on a bench in a dog-like position, and get the ladies used to me. Get them thinking about me, draw them in with the I'm-really-just-a-big-puppydog look. It was actually starting to work for the most part. People were starting to think of me more in terms of a dog, rather than a ravening mutant wolf.

Today, a young woman sat on the old couch next to me. I honestly have no idea what she was waiting for, but the hallway was pretty empty. There was no couch other than my own, and the one next to it. My head was conveniently placed on the arm rest. From her position all she could see was my doggy little head. I didn't need to open my eyes for this. I had noticed one of the advantages of my new shape was increased extrasensory perception. I knew where she was at all times, I knew how old she was from her scent. In fact, I knew who she was, not by name of course, just by scent and what she looked like. I was pretty sure she worked on base full time due to her petit stature. I really didn't care, but I did know she had once owned a big dog thanks to my ears and my predatory stalking.

As time slowly inched forward, she inched sideways. Ever closer she came, as I maintained to the utmost that I was completely asleep, dead to the world. Eventually her curiosity and natural affinity to dogs seemed to take over. I had banked on the idea that her owning a large dog, I think a shepherd, would mean she had fond memories of a creature looking very similar to myself. I felt her hand play a bit with my ears. I moved slightly, trying to get across the idea that I liked it. If you don't do anything they won't want to pet you, there has to be some feedback. After a little more nervous probing she finally settled into the idea of petting me. Yes, I know, I'm a sick manipulative bastard stalker, but I'm desperate okay. If I can't get sex I can at least get some loving contact. I'll settle for anything at this point, just so long as it's affectionate.

But of course, this was not meant to last. The alarm sounded,'time to go'. I jerked my head back and forth in a startled manner. I avoided looking at her, since any acknowledgment that I knew what she had done would ruin my chances for future pettings. I stood up in a rush, looking around. Then I turned to the girl and smiled like I had never seen her before "Hi". I waved a bit as I started to run off, and threw a bye over my shoulder, making sure to sound as young and innocent as possible. People don't like dogs that act "mature". They want a puppy, so I'll give the ones who don't know me the puppy act. I'll get them warm up to me, then I'll fall back into being my old self. But for now, I've got a mobile suit to pilot.


End file.
